For scientific papers on AGW, record happenings in the Arctic and the Greenland, Himalayan and Antarctic icesheets. Also weatherstorms and higher than average rainfalls and other extreme weather events.

dissilymordentroge wrote:Nobody can explain to me why the LIberals have turned against science.

The science goes against the wishes of their political donors. If you're a lib, money trumps everything else.

Don’t know which donors you mean as surveys of big and medium businesses in Australia tell us they're very concerened about the implications of global warming and the uncertainty a lack of any clear policy direction which makes planning investment a nightmare. Maybe though you’re thinking of a certain Indian coal mining company or that beloved Australian, Gina Rinehart who happens to be a good friend of Tony Abbott?

dissilymordentroge wrote:Don’t know which donors you mean as surveys of big and medium businesses in Australia tell us they're very concerened about the implications of global warming and the uncertainty a lack of any clear policy direction which makes planning investment a nightmare. Maybe though you’re thinking of a certain Indian coal mining company or that beloved Australian, Gina Rinehart who happens to be a good friend of Tony Abbott?

Coal miners. Gina is at the top of that list, as is Adani. Rio tino, BHP, Wesfarmers, Xrata and a myriad of others in the mining industry. See the links to donors in the article below although some are hard to follow because business names don't necessarily reflect the names of he owners of those businesses.

Of note also is that 'advertisements spruiking the benefits of coal and mining were the biggest political expenditure by third-party groups in Australia last year, dwarfing public contributions from unions and GetUp.'

Sanjeev Gupta, the British billionaire who rescued the Whyalla steelworks from administration, has called on the Federal Government to do more to make it easier for big companies to access finance to make grand investments in renewable energy.

Mr Gupta said he wanted a "fast track, easy package" that would help businesses fund rooftop solar.

The long-running uncertainty around national energy policy means many major firms have avoided long-term renewable projects like large-scale rooftop solar installations.

But the cost of generating solar energy has come down considerably in recent months.Industrial market for rooftop solar expected to expand three-fold

For some companies, it is now cheaper to use solar power than electricity sourced from a coal-fired power station and several corporates — including Coca-Cola Amatil, Stockland and Woolworths — are pushing ahead with installing thousands of panels.

Paul Peters, the CEO of energy services company Verdia, said those companies were finding it too risky to do nothing amid rising power costs.

"The cost of doing nothing is more expensive," he said.

"If I do nothing, I'd rather actually invest and get some cost savings immediately to my bottom line."

Verdia is managing a rollout of 10,000 solar panels across the bottling operations of Coca-Cola Amatil.

"Corporates are saying, 'We can actually solve some of this, and are solving it with projects that we will do ourselves'," Mr Peters told RN Breakfast.

The industrial market for rooftop solar is expected to expand three-fold by next year as more businesses turn the roofs of their warehouses into solar power plants.Gupta calls for better financing support, not subsidies

But many in the sector said businesses could only go so far in the adoption of renewables without a broader policy framework from the Federal Government.

Mr Gupta wants the Government to boost the fire power of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which is tasked with providing financial support for companies to go green.

He has been relying on his own capital from GFG Alliance, which has already been central to the industrial transformation underway around Port Augusta and Whyalla in South Australia.

The work includes 13 clean energy projects, some of which include solar storage.

But he said a lack of cheap, long-term capital was holding him back.

"One of the big constraints in really applying industry at a massive scale is access to capital — and access to long-term capital, and access to cheap capital," Mr Gupta said.

"Those attributes do not exist in the private market — especially in Australia."

Mr Gupta said the Government should re-evaluate how industries and consumers could be assisted to develop green energy — not with subsidies, but with better financing support.

Why is it beyond you? They want people to be dependant on a Corporation, not independent. They want all people on a joined grid so they can easily shut you off if needed (if you do not behave like a very good boy). They also want to keep the flow of money and dependancy toward those Energetic Corps.

johnsmith wrote:this is a great move. Lancaster, a city of 170 000 totally running on solar

US city empowers Australian councils to develop solar as lack of federal climate policy causes concern

A city in southern California has become the first city in the world to be zero net energy with solar farms powering the entire city, and now it is inspiring Australian cities to follow its lead.

Being zero net energy means the city produces more solar electricity through solar farms than it can use.

Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris has attributed an increase in employment, new manufacturers moving to the city, and a reduction in crime to the approach to alternative energy.

This week, Mr Parris has been in Kiama on the NSW south coast at the Cities Power Partnership summit, speaking to local council representatives from around Australia about how they might be able to do something similar.

He said he had decided to take the lead on alternative energy for the safety and wellbeing of his constituents, and this continued to drive him forward.

"Climate disruption poses the greatest threat to the public, and the primary function of government is to protect the people," Mr Parris said.

"It's the greatest threat the world has ever seen."

Communities inspired to invest in alternative energy

Local councils have been inspired by Lancaster and its alternative energy approaches, with many council representatives saying the Federal Government's lack of climate change policy makes it even more imperative that they take the lead.

One council that has been particularly inspired is the Lismore council, which has established a community solar program.

Using investments from residents, the council has installed a number of community solar farms, including a floating solar farm and one on the roof of its leisure centre.

The council also has a 100 per cent renewable energy target by 2023 for all electricity generated and used by the council.

Lismore Deputy Mayor Elly Bird was at the climate summit in Kiama and said the Northern Rivers was leading the way when it came to renewable energy in Australia.

"In the absence of any significant action at the federal level, Local Government can really play a leadership role in this space.

"We can work with our communities to provide renewable energy infrastructure we know they want."

Local governments have crucial role to play

Macquarie University academic and climate change researcher Lesley Hughes, a keynote speaker at the summit, agrees with council representatives that they must step up and fill the vacuum left by the Federal Government.

Professor Hughes said councils were the ones who bore the brunt of a changing climate.

"Whether it's building roads or telling people where they can put their houses, Local Government is where the adaption rubber really hits the road in terms of climate change," she said.

Professor Hughes said alternative energy community projects were crucial in generating interest among citizens about the impacts of climate change and what they could do to help the planet.

"What we are facing is a planetary catastrophe," she said. "People need to act now."

Bowerbird wrote:I enjotpyed the conversation, well the last page at least

I agree with those touting for more energy storage in the grid as it amakes no sense not to have backup. Microgrids are the wave of the future and particularly when you realise the vast infrastructure we have put in place linking so many rural towns to the main grids. If we can develop reliable microgrids to support those towns it would save money ultimately. To that end I do,wonder why we have not put more research into Vanadium redox batteries. The tech is Australian. They seem pretty robust and if weight and room is not an issue they should work wellhttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium_redox_battery

One of Australia’s newest and most efficient “supercrticial” coal-fired power plants – CS Energy’s 750MW Kogan Creek Power Station on the Darling Downs in Queensland – tripped unexpectedly on the weekend, taking out 500MW of generation out of the mix for several hours on a hot Saturday afternoon.

Now, this is neither particularly unusual or even newsworthy – as Hugh Saddler has explained here, coal plants regularly “trip,” even the newest ones. And while inconvenient for the market operator, and not great for wholesale prices, this rarely leads to customers losing power.

It does, however, go to the point that coal power – regularly and vigorously championed by the federal Coalition as the only reliable source of “fair dinkum power” – is not necessarily all that reliable.